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MEMORIAL ADDRE 



DELI V EKED BV 



J. L. DOBBIN, 




AINERD, MINN 



iVlay 30. 1895 



MEMORIAL ADDRESS 



DELIVERED BY 



J. L. DOBBIN, 



BRAINERD, MINN 



iVlay 30, 1895. 



1-- 






APR 1 IMS 







Comrades of the Grand Army, Ladies and Gentlemen: 

This day fraught with so many sacred memories, dear 
to all and hallowed by its associations, again claims our 
tender solicitude. 

We meet to attest our affection for our departed dead 
and to renew our vows to those they left behind. 

Though all in love with life, cheerfully will the last rem- 
nant of our great Grand Army lay life's burdens down, if 
conscious that the remembrance of sacred trusts com- 
mitted to our care shall continue to touch and move 
each loyal heart. 

Of all the days of the year Memorial day is the most 
precious to the Union solclier. On this day memory leads 
us back again to the past. Imagination aids us, and our 
absent comrades are again with us ; not in winding sheets 
nor burial shroud, but as ^Ji^^^^iiPfi^rc*^ ^^ li^^j — the flush 
of health on their bronzecf cheeks, their eyes flashing 
with all the fire and en^i|;ijiasm of youth; their hearts 
bounding with ambition and bright hope; we see them 
where duty calls and hear again their loud huzzas when 
the red field is won. We move again amidst their forms 
and reach out to grasp their hands in ours as they throng 
to our embrace. We cannot realize that so much of 
manhood and life and love is gone, nor can we realize 
that we too must soon join them to part no more forever. 

This beautiful ceremony in which we engage has met 
with the almost universal approval of the American peo- 
ple, and loving hands today will garland with flowers 
many a grave, the occupant of which died "unknown ;" not 
because they can be aided by these acts of tender affection, 
nor because a brighter luster may be shed on their well- 
merited glory, but in token of that debt of gratitude due 
them from every child of this Republic. How long the 
people of this country shall continue to observe this day 
must, in my judgment, depend largely upon the 
loyal people of the North. At one time I believed 



that the South, appreciathig the services of those brave 
men who not only secured hberty to the North and South 
alike, but made our government one and inseparable, 
would all unite with us in revering- the memory of the 
laiion soldier. In this, I am sorry to say, I have been 
disappointed. 

A few days ago a re-union of the United Confederate 
Association was lield at Houston, Texas. It is 
an organization similar in many respects to 
that of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
The historian of that body, speaking to the assembled 
multitude, urged upon them that they should exclude 
from the schools of the South all histories that did not 
place conspicuously, and in a more favorable light, the 
"lost cause," than those now in use. He claimed that 
many of the histories now used in the South were writ- 
ten by historians living in the North, and were inimical to 
the ideas for which they fought. He urged that it should 
be taught to, and known by their children, that in the 
struggle from '6i to '65, the. Southem states were over- 
powered by superior numbers, while fighting for 
local self government. No more willful pen^ersion 
■of the truth could have been made. All then 
living knew exactly what they were fighting for. but 
the youth of the South and many in the North have not 
yet learned the truth. I had hoped that 30 years after the 
Rebellion none could be found, either North or South, 
who would indulge in such foolish and mendacious asser- 
tions, expecting them to be believed. All then living 
>knew that the results of our last war were of far greater 
benefit to the South than to the North, for they had 
greater need of the blessings of civil liberty, and none 
should feel more profoundly grateful to the Union soldier 
than the people of that section known as the South. 

Let it then be our chief care to teach our children and 
also those who come from other lands to make a home 
with us, that in the great struggle for liberty 
and union the North was right, and the 
South was absolutely and unqualifiedly wrong. And as 
we teach these thing-s let us not forget to teach the duty 



we owe to those men who risked their lives to perpetuate 
free g-overnment. Let us see to it that this day is not 
diverted from the use to which it was intended. Let us 
continue to make it a day which will inspire every Ameri- 
can citizen with a iiiore lofty appreciation of his gov- 
ernment. 

Another decade shall find but few of the Old Guard 
ready at the call of duty. Other lips must speak th© 
words which shall thrill us with love of country; other 
hands must carry in the procession "Old Glory" to the 
cemeter}', and weave the garlands of flowers to be laid 
upon the grassy mounds. I would be glad, if even now, 
the children and grandchildren of all good citizens of 
this republic would take charge of these ceremonies and 
make the silvery haired veterans their honored guests. 

History informs us that nearly 2,400 years ago the semi- 
barbarous hordes of Asia, swept along by the full tide of 
power, detemiined to chastise and crush the Islands of 
Greece. The result of that determination was the battle 
of Marathon, which is given as the most wonderful that 
ever was fought, not only from the fact that a handful 
of Atheuians defeated more than ten times their number, 
but because of its far reaching effect upon the worlds civ- 
ilization. At the close of that remarkable conflict the sur- 
viving Grecians took a solemn vow that annually they 
would meet around the graves of those who fell and offer 
sacrifices over their sacred dust. Mounds were raised 
over the brave and illustrious dead and the soil of Platea 
became a second Holy Land. Thither embassies every 
year came from the states of Greece to offer sacrifices. 
Tliey taught their children to uncover their heads and re- 
move their sandals when they approached that sacred 
place, and so great was the love of the people for those 
who died that when the aged warrior who had stemmed 
the tide of Oriental barbarism and saved the very life 
of Greece, beheld for the last time the sun fading in the 
west, young men and maidens were to be seen renewmg 
upon the altars of Platea that holy fire whose fervent heat 
should quicken the hearts of every Athenian with affection 
for his patriotic ancestors. So faithfully did the children 



of Greece renew and keep the pledge of their fathers that 
the great Plutarch tells us of witnessing the 6ooth memo- 
rial service. In the coming years shall it be written on 
history's tell-tale page that the children of Greece knew 
how to be more grateful than the youth of this 
republic, heirs to a priceless heritage; and 
shall it be chronicled by some future historian 
that with the expiring throb of the last survivor of the 
great Grand Armies that marched with Sherman to the 
sea, and received the sword of Lee at Appomattox, the 
memorial service dedicated to our nation's heroes died 
also? Those who fought at Marathon secured for man- 
kind the intellectual treasures of Athens; the growth of 
free institutions; the liberal enlightenment of the Western 
world, and the gradual ascendency for many ages of the 
great principles of European civilization, but those who 
fought in later years the battles of our Union not only 
secured a lasting peace to this beloved land, but struck the 
shackles of slavery from more than four million human 
beings entitled to all the rights which God's creatures 
should enjoy; they made the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, that "all men are created equal," a living truth; 
they made it possible to exercise the right of free speech 
throughout all this land; they made this country, whicli 
was only free in name, free in truth and in fact, and se- 
cured free government for future generations. I believe 
that most of our people appreciate all the results of the 
war and desire to do their whole duty in venerating the 
memory of those who fell in the cause of liberty; they 
have not only raised mounds over the hallowed dust, but 
many of the states, as well as the national government, 
have made generous appropriations to erect monuments 
to the valor of our departed comrades. The chisel of the 
sculptor has imbued with life inanimate marble, and the 
monuments at Gettysburg and Atlanta breathe out a 
nation's gratitude. We not only admire but commend 
these patriotic efforts to keep before the youth of our 
country the noble sacrifices made for the cause of liberty, 
and the preservation of the Union. 

Yet neither "storied urn, nor animated bust," however 



beautiful or costly, can perform the duties incumbent on 
the people of this RepubHc. If the time shall ever come 
when marble slab or granite shaft shall be all that is left 
to remind the American people of their obligations to 
those we honor today, then indeed shall they have died 
in vain. But that ^ime will never come! When monu- 
ments shall have crumbled to dust, wherever a heart shall 
be found that beats to the transports of patriotisni and 
liberty, its aspiration shall l)c to claim kindred with the 
spirits of our heroic dead. 

It seems fitting on a day like this, when young and 
old are assembled to attest their devotion to country that 
we should dwell en themes that may inspire usi 
with loftier views of life and more fervent zeal for the in- \ 
stitutions under which we live. The average American ■ 
citizen of today, on whom rests the burden of civil .uid 
political affairs, has but little time or inclination to seri- 
ouslv consider absor'bing questions of vital importance to 
us ail. Visions of wealth or nreferment or the betterment 
of his condition engross his waking hours. He does not 
comprehend the fact that he is one of the rulers of this 1 
great nation clothed with many of the powers of a king, ', 
that presidents and governors are but his creation and ' 
his servants, and that the people are supreme. 

Matters of the gravest importance demand today the ■ 
patriotic consideration of every intelligent citizen. The 
strife between capital and labor; the abandonment or con- 
tinuance of our educational system; the subordination to 
and respect for civil law, and the enforcement of the 15th 
Amendment to our National Constitution, are matters 
which, if unheeded, may assume such phases and propor- 
tions as shall again test the strength of our govermiient. ^ 

Blessed as we are with a country rich in nature's wealth, 
whose shores on either side are washed by an ocean in- 
viting the commerce of the world; whose geographical 
position brings it within the temperate zone, making it 
the most suitable abiding place for man, we cannot un- 
derstand why murmurinsfs of discontent should be hearcj 
within our borders. With a government without a taint 
of despotism, where the people make their own laws; a 



government founded upon the broadest principles of in- 
dividual rights, which has brought greater blessings to 
this people than any other country has ever known, we 
cannot understand why anarchy should raise its baneful 
iiead and find any place to nurture its noisome brood. 
With an educational s\stem unsurpassed, vipon which 
rests the very life and stability of our government, we fail 
to realize why it should not receive the united loyal sup- 
port of all good citizens. I am not unmindful of the 
fact that the best intellects are engaged in the solution of 
these problems so full of interest. Yet, after all, it will 
be reserved for the loyal thinking masses to find a way 
to avert any tlireatened dang-er. 

Thirty-five years ago questions of state rights and 
human slavery and kindred questions agitated the politi- 
cians of our country. Had the masses of our people 
given these questions the intelligent consideration they de- 
served at the proper time, I am constrained to believe that 
war might have been averted and the lives of 1,000,000 
of the flower of American manhood been spared. In- 
difference to American citizenship permitted evils to fes- 
ter and grow upon the body politic until the usual reme- 
dies were found inadequate. 

Having lived so long under the demoralizing influence 
of human slavery war became inevitable, and seemed not 
only a necessity to purify our poHtical atmosphere and 
teach us that we were drifting away from the moorings of 
freedom, but more especially to elevate us to a higher 
plane of civilization. Tlie freedom of which we then 
boasted was rather a jealousy of our own rights than a 
reverence for the rights of others. 

We lacked . humanity. We unconsciously inflicted 
gross wrongs. We wronged the Indian; we enslaved 
die Negro. We professed to vouchsafe free speech to all, 
and yet we heard unmoved the howHng of the brutal mob 
who thirsted for the blood of him who dared to speak 
in defense of the liberty of the Negro. The fire of con- 
flict gave us broader views of freedom, and as the smoke 
cleared away from the fields of carnage on which lay 
our martyred dead, we learned the lessons which war 



alone could teach. We learned that war \Yith all its 
horrors can develop the grandest natures the world has 
ever seen. "It developed courage, that sublime energy 
of the soul, which defies the universe when it feels itself 
to be in the right. It developed self-sacrifice, which rep- 
udiates the idea that our life is worth more than anything 
else, when for a principle it throws that life away as if 
to say: It is not necessary that I live, but it is necessary 
that right should triumph. It developed magnanimity, 
that spirit which prompted us to not only extend mercy 
but food and raiment to a fallen foe. Who does not know 
that most of us on both sides of the struggle became 
mightier and larger and grander in our natures from the 
education received l)y our great civil war." 

As the clouds rolled away from each battle-field, we 
realized that war frequently comes as the refiner of the 
universe, before which all illusions, all unrealities fade 
away. We beheld truths that had never appeared to us 
before. Many of us regarded the Negro only as an ani- 
mal, fit to be purchased and sold and used as a chattel. 
At Miliken's Bend and Fort Pillow, in the flash of mus- 
ketry and roar of cannon, the truth dawned upon us that 
we had wronged him,' and as the war progressed, we were 
sure we had. The children of Israel fled before the aven- 
ging ire of Pharaoh's army, and the kind billows of the 
Red Sea delivered them from their oppressors, but the 
American Negros, after nearly 250 years of degrading 
bondage, bravely stood before their former masters and 
fought with a heroism worthy of freemen. To this, his- 
tory furnishes no parallel. A peace-loving people, we 
abhorred war ; yet our achievements in literature, science, 
art and agriculture in the past twenty-five years can be 
traced almost directly to its results. 

The thunder of cannon aroused us from lethargy to ac- 
tivity. Activity in agriculture; the wilderness became a 
fair garden. Activity in manufactures; the name Ameri- 
can became synonomous with invention, and the wildest 
dreams of Franklin w-ere realized in the discoveries of 
Edison. Activity in art; each home became a temple 
for the be.autiful in sculpture, painting and music, and re- 



finement made its appearance where nature's rustic rude- 
ness once held sway. Science removed from our eyes the 
scales, and the sons and daughters of this land advanced 
in a decade farther than their ancestors had in the pre- 
ceding century. But above and beyond the benefits ac- 
cruing to our common country and underlying all, that 
which challenges our admiration most was the unselfish 
patriotism of the Union soldier. 

When a complete history shall record his deeds, his un- 
selfish devotion to country shall stand as the brightest 
attribute of his character. The Roman soldier under 
Caesar fought for the spoils of conquest. The Persian 
army under Xerxes marched out as slaves under the 
guidance of a master, and one part of the army plied the 
lasih to make the other perform its duty. Napoleon's 
army was largely made up of men dragged from their 
homes by conscription, and fought to make their idol 
master of the world. Even the English armies are com- 
posed of men who in time of peace make war a study and 
a trade; but the Union army was made up of men from 
the active pursuits of peaceful industry, who, leaving 
the anvil, the plow and the pen, and bidding farewell to 
those they held most dear, gave up all to volunteer at their 
country's call, that they might secure to future generations 
the blessings of free government. Greater love hath no 
man for his country than this. Scholars and statesmen 
may plead and write for her, but the citizen who offers his 
life to his country in the hour of her imminent peril, has 
ever occupied and w^ll continue to occupy the highest 
place in the affections of his countrymen. Though three- 
(|uarters of a century has passed awav since Waterloo, 
who stand higher in the affections of the English people 
than the heroes of ihat sanguinary battle? 

We would remember all today whose voices, though 
hushed in death, still speak to us from the tomb more 
eloquently than tongue or pen. With conscious pride we 
refer to those whose names no longer designate or in- 
dividualize them. They are the great "unknown." who 
fell where they fought. One hundred and forty-eight 
thousand of these sleep in our National Cemeteries, but 



these are not all. Though we cannot tell what their an- 
cestry may have been; whether they first saw the light 
in luxury or squalor, they are still ours, their memory 
is enshrined in our hearts and shall continue to live in our 
affections. 

"Bring- the flowers; deck the heroes' 

Graves from ocean shore to shore. 
Theirs the lives which paid the ransom, 
Ours to reap, their lal)ors o'er." 

"Peace! the Hand that made creation 

Still doth g'uard his offspring's dust; 
Flowers grow, while breezes o'er them. 

Waft the birds' sweet song of trust." 

We speak of our honored dead and our thoughts invol- 
untarily revert to those who fell resisting the" charge at 
Gettysburg-; who scaled the heights at Fredericksburg 
never to return again; who met a glorious death while 
fighting- above the clouds at Lookout Mountain, or re- 
turned home wounded and shattered to sicken and die. 
But we would also place the immortelle today upon the 
graves of those who made the org-anization and main- 
tenance of the Union army possible. We would place 
the flower of remembrance on the graves of the American 
mothers, who laid broad and deep the foundations of 
liberty and inspired their sons with noble aims and lofty 
views of patriotism; who in the hour of our country's 
peril laid on its altar those dearer to them than life itself, 
and like Abraham of old, asked not wliy the unnatural 
sacrifice was demanded; who with womanly fortitude 
blessed God that they had g-iven their sons, even though 
in the shock of battle He might reclaim his own. We 
would lay the garland of flowers today upon the graves 
of those who, like sweet ministering angels, in camp and' 
hospital, moistened the parched lips or cooled the fevered 
brow. We would bless and hallow the memory of all the 
noble women, who by word and deed and offices of love 
inspired our flagging zeal, and nerved our weary arms. 



They were patriots .ill; and the time will come when jus- 
tice will be done them; when the records of their unselfish 
deeds shall be gathered into history's golden urn, as a 
priceless heritage for the daughters of this goodly land 
of ours. 

As the scene of this most terrible tragedy of our 
country recedes from view with the years, coming 
generations will continue to appreciate the services of the 
men and women who were the actors in this great con- 
flict; and as around the hearth the story is told, it will 
be an inspiration to each one to do something for his 
country's good. 

, Let the teacher remember that it was such as lie who 
taught the American soldier the history of his country; 
who spoke to him, when a youth, of Bennington and 
Bunker Hill, of the sufYering army at Valley Forge; of 
tlie midnight advance of Washington and his men in mid 
winter across the Delaware. Let the teacher remember 
that his patriotic services are as essential in the little 
temple of American liberty (the public school house over 
which he presides) as the soldier's services in the field, 
and as the color guard of noble youth shall raise towards 
heaven this sacred emblem where eager winds shall un- 
fold its beauties, and loyal sunbeams kiss its silvery stars, 
think not the labor lost if he shall explain its emblematic 
meaning. 

Let him tell them thai in a few years the great Grand 
Armies of Grant and Sherman and Sheridan will all be 
sleeping the sleep that knows no waking, and that 
into their hands will be consigned the care and .keeping 
of that flag with all it implies and adjure them to guard it 
well, for what it represents was purchased at fearful cost. 
Above all, teach them to be honest, not only to them- 
selves but to their country. Tell them of the integrity of 
men of former days, when Major Andre's British gold 
was unable to purchase a freeman's honor. Show them 
also that although the enemy appears not in martial array 
to menace our institutions, a more dangerous and in- 
sidious foe is ever present, — corruption's gilded hand is 
ever stretched forth to tear down the American flag. To 

13 



the teachers of the pubhc schools, and those best of all 
teachers, the mothers of this land, must we look for suc- 
cor from this dreaded enemy. Unless the American 
youth shall be taught that the worst of criminals and 
traitors, is the man who accepts a bribe or steals from 
the public coffers when intrusted with the confidence of 
his fellow citizens, then, indeed, shall history repeat itself; 
and self-government must prove a failure. 

Let the ministers, the priests of God, who are also 
teachers, remember this; and let them bear in mind that 
neither they nor such as they manned the guns that thun- 
dered at the battles for the Union, for like the master 
they sei-ve, they come to preach peace and good will on 
earth, yet it was their fervid eloquence that helped to swell 
the ranks of our shattered armies, and their cheering 
words that nerved our arm to "Strike for God and Home 
and Native Land." Let them remember that eternal vig- 
ilance is still the price of liberty, and to them is intrusted 
the task of keeping the springs and fountains of our civil 
and political as well as our social life, sweet and pure. 

The press, that mighty agency in a free land, which, 
with the pulpit, wields the greatest influence for good, 
must receive support only when it shall teach men to be 
loyal to free government and to be true to their own man- 
hood. 

Let each citizen of the Republic keep it ever before him, 
however humble his lot, that he can if he will, be a 
potent force in assisting to solve the great problem of our 
Nation's destiny. 

Surely there is need of patriotic action if we are to 
avoid the dangers that threaten us, and expect to assim- 
ilate the heterogenous element that, each year confound- 
ing liberty with license, land upon our shores to test the 
fabric of our government and threaten our national life. 
Yet let us hope that, as in the past, a kind providence 
has guided our affairs, so shall we still find brave hearts 
and strong arms in the hour of our adversity. 

Conscious of the rectitude of our past efforts we, with 
pardonable pride, approach the close of the granc est cen- 
tury in all history. No other century has been fraught 



with so many incidents affecting the welfare of o ir race. 
From its beginning to the present time, the march of 
civiHzation has been onward and upward. Pregnant of 
activity, it has been rich in resuhs. Tlieories have given 
way to reaUties, and nature has so far succumbed to the 
investigations of science as to raise the query whether 
the days of miracles have passed. Productive of genius, 
the coming century lias become its debtor for magnificent 
achievements in hterature, science and art. Yet, to our 
mind, its crowning glory consists not in its inventions or 
discoveries, but in its resistance to aggressive tyranny; 
the abolishment of slavery; the protection and mainte- 
nance of free institutions, and the advancement of woman 
to her true position in social life. Honored above all 
other inhabitants of fne earth, happy in the consciousness 
that Providence has guided and controlled us, should 
the American citizen feel when he reflects that of all the 
nations of the world, this Republic, even with its devastat- 
ing civil war, has made the greatest advancement. Having 
demonstrated to the world that a government of the peo- 
ple, by the people, and for the people, is more enduring 
than that based on the so-called "divine right of kings." 
thrones are tottering and coronets are falling from un- 
easy heads. 

Liberty with magic stylus has engraved over the portals 
of the palace of royalty the ominous word "decay." Too 
intelHgent longer to continue the puppet oU plaything of a 
king, France becomes a Republic, and immediately the 
revulsion among her people tends to the highest pros- 
perity. Brazil, following her wise example, gives glad 
promise of future greatness. Thus shall the good work 
go on until the clouds of ignorance and oppression are 
dispelled by the warm sunshine of humanity and popular 
education. Then, and then only, may we hope that what- 
ever differences born of rapacity and human passions shall 
arise among nations, reason shall prevail and the methods 
of peace triumph over brutish force. 

Comrades of the Grand Army, as the sunset of life ap- 
proaches, we would solve the hidden mysteries of futurity. 
We would look even with finite eyes beyond the peaks 



that limit the horizon of our vision and catch some glimp- 
ses of the hills and vales beyond. But this cannot be. 
What is in store for our beloved land none can tell. Yet 
no superhuman means are necessary to aid us in fore- 
telling the efifect upon our country of the gathering at 
scenes like this we witness today. Nor do we need the 
voice of seer or prophet to tell us that this is but the 
l)resage of the dawning of a brighter, happier day, when 
each patriotic act performed and each noble sentiment 
uttered shall have made its impress on our race wher- 
ever found; when liberty in every land shall have become 
enthroned and "man's heaven-erected form adorned with 
the smiles of love and peace and sweet content." Then 
shall the hovel of serf and peasant be known no more, yet 
straw thatched hut, with liberty as a guest, shall be as a 
palace for nature's king. 

And as the cycling years roll on, beloved spirits shall 
hover near to catch the sweet strains of some grand 
"Gloria in Excelsis" wafted heavenward from the shrines 
of liberty throughout the world. And though with the 
years our faces shall have faded from memory, and all 
that we now see and hear and love shall have changed, 
still let us indulge the hope that with the glad springtime 
Columbia's grateful children will meet around this flag to 
sing praises to the God of Freedom and strew the 
graves of our illustrious dead with nature's choicest 
flowers. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

Hllill 

013 785 191 fi *r 



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